The present invention relates to an improved knitted fabric, and in particular to a knitted sheeting material made of a poly-cotton yarn and elastomeric yarn which retains its shape, is stretchable, versatile, and longer lasting than cotton/polyester sheets.
Currently, it is known in the art to provide plain woven and knitted sheets to institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, rest homes and the like. Most commonly, these sheets are woven, rather than knitted, and are made from only a blend of polyester and cotton yarns.
The fitted or contoured sheets made from "conventional" woven fabric generally do not fit more than one mattress size and are difficult to fit on mattresses having foam comfort overlays. Accordingly, institutions using conventional woven contour or fitted sheets must maintain sheets of several sizes in order to fit all the bed sizes within the institution.
Another common problem with conventional woven fitted sheets is that they "pop off" the mattress rather easily. Fitted sheets generally pop off the mattress because they are either too small for the mattress or have difficulty adhering to the mattress when the head or foot of the bed is raised or lowered. A common problem associated with conventional sheets that are knitted from polyester-cotton blend strands is that they have a tendency to wear out over time due to "pinholing." Pinholing results from individual yarns snagging and breaking or from fatigue of fibers due to repeated washing. When the pinholes get too large or too numerous, the sheets are taken out of service. A third problem with conventional woven and knitted contour sheets is shrinkage. After washing they become smaller and thus more difficult to fit over a mattress. The corner seams may rip permanently due to the bedmaking staff having to pull very hard to stretch the sheets onto the mattress. Finally, in institutional settings, these same prior woven or knitted sheets tend to "bunch" from the raising or lowering of the bed or bunch when a patient repositions one's self in the bed. This bunching can lead to discomfort due to skin shear and pressure points, which is also the common cause of skin problems in older patients.
The present invention provides an improved fabric which addresses all of the problems previously outlined by knitting together two yarn types, at least one yarn type being an elastomeric or hyper-elastic yarn. In one embodiment, the first yarn type is comprised of a blend of natural and synthetic fibers, preferably a blend of cotton and polyester (hereinafter "poly-cotton"), and the other yarn is comprised of an elastomeric or hyper-elastic fiber such as spandex. This unique blend of knitted poly-cotton and elastomeric yarns creates a knitted fabric having increased shape retention, versatility, and an increased useful life over that of the conventional or traditionally knitted or woven fabric sheets. The elastomeric yarn allows the fabric to stretch more than traditional poly-cotton sheets. This increased stretching ability allows for easier installation of the fitted sheets on the mattress and allows the creation of one size of fitted sheet to fit all normal sized health care mattresses, with or without foam comfort overlays. The elastomeric yarn also allows the sheets to adhere better to the mattress. The elastomeric yarn gives the sheets the continued resilience to attempt to "pull" the fabric back into its resting shape even when adhered to the mattress. Further, the elastomeric yarn and poly-cotton yarn blend creates a more resilient fabric, which is resistant to snagging, fiber fatigue, pinholing, and which increases the useful life of the fabric. Further, the elasticity of the present invention allows the sheet to "give" with a patient when the patient is repositioning. Likewise, the elasticity of the sheets allows them to stay taut when the bed is raised or lowered, thereby reducing the occurrence of "bunching up" under the patient. This reduced bunching effect in turn promotes better skin care by reducing skin shear and pressure points.
While the preferred embodiment of this invention addresses problems most associated with fitted or contoured sheets, it is recognized that other products such as crib sheets, pillow cases, stretcher sheets, flat sheets, fitted flat sheets, and sheets for sale to the retail market, may be created from this inventive fabric.